


Off Center

by ronandhermy



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Gen, a story about brothers being brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 23:26:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1406482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronandhermy/pseuds/ronandhermy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short fic in honor of Carl and Ian's brotherly relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off Center

In between the third board of his bunk bed Carl had hidden a knife. Not just any knife, but the one Ian had given to him right before he’d left. Before he decided it was better if he was somewhere else and not here, just like Frank and Monica sometimes left. Even Lip had gone off for a time. Except no one seemed to know where Ian might be.

So Carl kept the knife hidden and waited because Ian had promised to show him the proper grips when he came back. Ian promised. And he didn’t break his promises like other people did. So he’d come back.

Carl was sure of it.

***

When Ian came back Carl wanted to crow in delight. _He came back he came back I knew he would_ just played on a loop in his brain as he hugged his big brother. His brother didn’t break promises like other people did. It would be all right if he did since everybody else Carl loved did at some point or another. But he got a warm feeling in his belly that his brother hadn’t lied to him yet.

Ian accepted each embrace and in the back of his mind he tried to stop that spark of surprise that he was welcomed back so easily to the fold. And just like before, Ian couldn’t help but notice, he was soon folded in and nearly forgotten. It was if all of his siblings were trying to erase the fact that he had left from their lives for a time.

But sometimes Ian would catch Debbie and Carl watching him, as if waiting to see if he’d bolt again. And sometimes Carl would sit right next to him on couch, just a little too close, when there were other free seats. 

Well, at least someone in the family missed him.

***

Carl didn’t mind Mickey, he knew his weapons after all, and it seemed to make Ian happier to have him staying over. It had taken him awhile to figure out Ian was gay but it wasn’t that big of a surprise. He’d asked Debbie to confirm and she’d said it was true and since Debbie was the smartest one after Lip, she would know.

He was glad his brother had a boyfriend he loved, because if it was anything like Carl felt for Bonnie then it was off the chain. He would sometimes catch them talking, their heads leaning in close to one another, and he’d grin at how happy his brother seemed. A deep happy. 

***

Ian listened to Carl’s tales as he explained how Bonnie had hotwired a car to make him feel better and he laughed but he also hoped like hell his little brother wasn’t going to end up being sent to Juvie. Carl still had a desire to destroy, something every Gallagher seemed to inherit in one way or another, but he was getting better at channeling it seemed. And he’d mellowed out around the house.

It caused Ian’s heart to constrict when Carl smiled at him with that same smile from when he was three and thought his big brother could hang the moon. And Ian wanted to warn Carl, to tell him how messed up things could get in such a short amount of time, but he held back. Because someone should still believe the best in people in this family.

***

It was a Sunday and everyone else was asleep but Carl felt energetic for some reason. He jumped out of bed and headed downstairs only to be faced with Ian furiously scribbling in his journal. He went and sat beside his older brother, curious about what was going on in Ian’s head.

Suddenly Ian stopped and turned to Carl with a small smile, “You still want me to show you those knife grips?”

Carl grinned so hard it felt like his face would split in two, “Hell yeah.”

“Go get the knife,” Ian said, his grin still in place, “Just don’t wake up anyone.”

Carl nodded and ran up the stairs. He knew it. He knew his brother always kept his promises.


End file.
